Broken Promises
by PrincessBlaize
Summary: Prom should be the night that every girl, vampire or human, feels like a princess. Then why does Bianca feel so alone and out of place? There is a hole in her heart that needs to be filled. Will she be able to fill it with love? Or will she let the darkness overtake her?


**Author's Note:**** I started this story months ago, but I never knew how to end it. I finally finished it and I am fairly happy with how it turned out. It is not the third story of my Broken Dreams series; all of which are altered versions of dreams that I have had. I hope you enjoy and REVIEW.**

Prom. For any teenage girl, vampire or human, it was supposed to be the best night of our youth. I attended a high end boarding school, Brooklet Academy. They spared no expense on Prom. Our parents paid enough money in tuition for everything to be state of the art.

Brooklet was different from most other high schools. Located in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York, it housed not only male and female human students, but vampires as well. Our Headmistress and school staff believed in good relations and coexisting with humans. They supported the idea that we were all equal in society, lies, and needed to get along. Brooklet was a friendly place, but there was a definite food chain and social class with the stereotypical cliques. It was probably the typical school that they showed on television, with a supernatural element thrown into the mix.

The dining hall was large enough to fit over a thousand people, even though there were only about six hundred students in attendance. I suppose it was so the vampire students wouldn't have to worry about being in a small room with a bunch of sweaty humans tempting them. There were dozens of tables with flowers, candles, and fine China adorning them. The dance floor was extra-large and the music was loud enough to, almost, annoy my sensitive vampire ears.

"Bianca!" I heard my name being called.

I looked to my left. My best friend, Samantha, was dancing with a group of people. The silver dress looked great on her pale skin and it made her hazel eyes pop. The halter top of her dress showed off the lean muscles in her arms. Her black hair was pulled back in a high pony tail and curled. She looked great.

"What?" I called back to her.

She untangled herself from the group of people. I assumed that they were humans. They were all sweating, and when she came over, she smelled oddly sweet.

She leaned over and said in my ear, "Josh is looking for you. He's starting to get restless."

I could feel my eyes flash red with anger. Samantha took a small step away from me. When she realized that she did so, her face flushed pink with embarrassment. It killed me that I scared my best friend. I was a pureblood vampire, so I had some powers. We still weren't sure what they were yet, since I was so young, but when I was angry, I could throw temper tantrums like no other. But, this was my Prom night, and no one was going to mess it up for me.

"I've been gone for FIVE minutes. You can tell Josh that he needs to chill," I seethed.

Josh was the human who asked me to prom. He was short, brown haired, brown eyed, and smart. But, he was no vampire. He was just the boy who asked me. Sure there were other people who wanted to ask me, I'd heard so myself, but they were to chicken-shit to do so. I think people were afraid of me. I was one of the three purebloods in the school and they didn't know what I was capable of. People fear what they don't understand. I guess that was why Headmistress Brooklet created the school, so vampires and humans could finally start to understand each other. Too bad the human students didn't know that they were sharing their school with blood thirsty creatures of the night. It was hard to pull off, but Headmistress Brooklet did it.

I'd felt smothered and shadowed a few minutes prior. I couldn't go anywhere without looking over my shoulder and seeing Josh, so Samantha and I went to the other side of the dance floor, leaving our group of friends behind. Of course we were going to go back, but I had other friends that I'd wanted to see before the night was over.

"I think that Josh just needs to learn how lucky he is to have you. Let him wait and squirm a while," Samantha suggested, with a hint of playful malice in her voice. She could be devious when she wanted to. I hardly ever knew what was going on in her head.

"I agree," I said to her.

Her hazel eyes flashed with excitement. She grabbed my arm and pulled me into the cluster of people that had gathered in the middle of the dance floor. I didn't pay attention to any of the faces of the people around me. The closeness of our bodies made it feel as if we were all connected.

The air smelled deliciously sweet. Samantha and I were able to control the cravings due to the fact that we were born vampires. The kids who were turned into vampires had a harder time controlling themselves and could often be found on the edges of the dance floor or outside in the courtyard and gazebo.

Suddenly, my body started to feel odd. For one quick second, it felt as if I was struck in the stomach. The air escaped my lungs and I coughed. Samantha noticed. Her eyebrows scrunched together and she pulled me out of the crowd.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

I stood up straight again and assured her that I was fine. When she finally believed me, she drifted back to the dance.

I decided it was time to find Josh. Maybe treat myself to a snack.

As I walked along the edge of the dance floor, I got a searing migraine. Dark spots formed in front of my eyes. I tried to blink them away. What was happening to me?

Through the spots, I saw something. Blue. Not just any blue, but bright, electric blue. There were two blue things in the distance. Not just any things … eyes. And I'd seen them before. I was sure of it. But it was impossible. It had to be. Just as I blinked again, they were gone.

I needed to leave the dance floor. Something wasn't right. No one at school had eyes that colour. Perhaps I had just imagined it. I still wasn't feeling well, so I made a bee line to the bathroom.

There was a small group of vampire girls in the oversized bathroom. They complimented my dress before scuttling out of the room. Sometimes being feared had its advantages; at least I get some privacy.

I looked in the oversized mirror. Nothing looked out of the ordinary on me. My burgundy dress fit my slim figure perfectly, my almond shaped eyes were still big and brown, not a strand of brown hair was out of place in the bun atop my head, and my face wasn't flushed under my makeup. Yet, why did I feel so odd?

I sighed and decided to ignore it. I adjusted the straps of my dress before walking out of the bathroom.

I began a quick search for my prom date. Josh was right where I left him, dancing awkwardly in a small section of the dance floor with a few of our close friends. Samantha had decided to grace them with her presence as well.

"Are you ok?" she 'whispered' in my ear over the loud music.

I nodded yes.

"Where have you been?" a boy screamed in my ear.

I jerked away from him. Stupid humans. Everything with them was always so loud. There was no reason to hurt my sensitive ears. .

"I was mingling. I do have other friends. Then I went to the bathroom," I explained crossly. I wanted to tell him that he was not my keeper and I didn't have to be at his side the entire night. But, I would be a Lady for my prom night. All polite and smiles. Until someone pissed me off, that is.

"I was looking for you," he said, once again, too loudly.

"I was never very far," I said nonchalantly.

He looked annoyed, but just for a second. He plastered a fake smile on his face. He held out his hand for me to take. I reluctantly took it.

He wasn't a very good dancer. His tempo was off at points and was hard for me to match, but we managed. Most of the time, he kept his hands on my waist, and pulled me close to his body. We were chest to chest and my heels made us around the same height. I didn't want to look in his eyes. Sure, out of all the people who could have asked me to prom, Josh wasn't the worst, but I couldn't be satisfied with him. There was a hole in my heart that I felt needed to be filled, and he couldn't do that for me.

No. No sentimental crap to ruin my night. In fact, no emotions at all, they just ruin everything.

Dante, my best guy friend came over to dance with our group. He looked so handsome in his black tux with olive highlights.

"Hey," he said as he pulled me away from Josh and close to him.

He wrapped his arms around me and spun me around. I could feel his lean abs through his shirt. His arms were lean and strong around me. Even for a young vampire, he had a nice body.

I giggled like a little school girl. So many people think we are in love with each other or something. The truth is, we just understand each other. Why don't people get that? Guys and girls can be friends without it being sexual.

"Where is Hanna?" I asked. Hanna was his date. He had a thing for her, way back when, but she started acting like a bitch a few weeks ago.

"I actually have no idea. It's been almost an hour since I've seen her," he responded. His bright blue eyes seemed sad for a moment. I felt bad. Dante was a really good kid and that stupid girl was treating him like shit.

"No matter, just hang with us," I suggested.

As he nodded, I untangled myself from his arms. Unlike Hanna, I was actually going to try to be a good prom date.

Josh reappeared at my side just as a slow song started. That one song was probably the most awkward moment of my life. He stared at me while I tried to ignore how much my feet were starting to hurt from my heels and how thirsty I was getting. I would have to get a drink as soon as the song was over. A bottled drink of course. The school made it clear that drinking from classmates was prohibited and could be punished with expulsion. If you got caught, that is. Only idiots and young vamps got caught though.

Just before the song ended, it started again. My head was pounding and everything seemed extremely too loud. Something was different though. My hand felt heavy.

I dropped my arms from Josh's shoulders, but he kept his on my waist.

"Are you feeling alright? You've been acting odd all night."

I didn't respond. I looked at my hand. On my left ring finger, there was a ring. It was white gold with a heart-shaped black diamond. There more I stared at it, the more it felt like I should be somewhere else.

I felt a tug to the left. Whether everything I was feeling was actually physical or just something weird happening with my brain, I was unsure; but, I turned to the left.

There they were again. Those electric blue eyes. Through the crowd, I could see the person that they belonged to. No one seemed to notice the tall boy in the black tux wearing a black mask over the top of his face. The theme wasn't masquerade, so it stood out to me. He stood out. I knew him. And he knew me.

He held out his hand to me and started to back away. He weaved through the crowd with perfect ease without ever once looking back. I needed to get to him.

"I need air," I said to Josh before slipping out of his grasp with catlike grace.

I couldn't see the boy anymore, so I did what I said I was going to do: I went out to the courtyard. While weaving through the crowd, my head started to pound even more and my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. For a vampire, that was anything but good. Our hearts were slow and only sped up when it was vital to the rest of the body. I walked faster.

He was there.

He stood by some large rose bushes. His pale skin stood out in the dark and contrasted with his black tux and mask.

He held his hand out to me again. I walked over, but didn't touch him.

"Remove your mask. I want to see your face," I said quietly.

He didn't hesitate. He reached up and removed his mask. His skin was perfect. I almost wished that I could sink into is bright blue eyes forever. His lips were full, his sandy brown hair was perfectly tousled, and he had an air of innocence around him.

I knew better.

My hand, faster than any human could even dream about seeing, snapped around and slapped him across the face.

His head snapped to the side. I hope it hurt.

He sighed. "I deserved that," he said. His voice was velvety smooth. My heart fluttered as he spoke. I ignored the temptations that the mere sight of him sent through me.

He looked into my eyes. Just before he said something else, I slapped him again.

That one was louder and even harder than the first.

He nodded once. "I suppose I deserved that one too."

Before he could say something else, I reached out to slap him again. Right before my hand could make contact with his face, he caught it in his own. I struggled and tried to pull away from him.

"Bianca, stop." His voice was stern. My body wanted to obey him, but my mind told me to keep fighting.

He leaned down close to my ear and said, "Please stop, just talk to me." His breath was cold and tickled my earlobe.

With one final tug, I pulled away from him. He was stronger than I was, so I knew it was his choice to let me go.

I glared at him. My eyes were enough to make the strongest willed people I knew squirm. He was different. His met my hatred with a coolness that I resented.

"Talk to me," he repeated.

"TEN MONTHS!" I screamed at him.

Thunder erupted above us, even though the sky was clear. Lightning flashed in the distance and a strong wind began to blow. I was the cause. I could feel power swelling in my core. It was consuming me, strengthening me, and seducing me. It was ready to explode out of me. And it was all aimed at him.

He didn't bat an eye though. I didn't scare him, nothing did. And that made me even angrier.

"Calm yourself Bianca," he said to me.

"How dare you tell me what to do? You have no right! You no good, piece of shi-"

I started my insult, but I didn't get to finish it. He grabbed me by the upper arms and pulled me close to his body.

I gasped quickly. He was so close. Our chests, hips, and thighs all touched. With every breath I took, it pushed me closer to him. His eyes bore into mine with an intensity that made me want to look away. His lips were just centimeters away from mine. His breath was so cold on my face. I could feel my heart slowing down. The wind ceased and the thunder stopped booming. He had such a calming effect. It wasn't fair.

"I asked you to talk to me like a lady Bianca, not to scream and lose your temper like a child," he chastised.

"Nicholas," I started. Ten months was how long it had been since I said his name. It sounded so foreign. "Let me go." As much as I didn't actually want him to let me go, I had a point to prove.

He nodded once before releasing my arms. I stepped away and turned my back to him while smoothing my hair down atop my head. I tried to think calming thoughts. All that I was able to feel though was the hole in my heart that the man standing behind me caused.

"Bianca, please don't think that way. I can feel your anger, feel your pain. I always could, since the night that we first met." He paused. "Let me help you remember."

I turned around to tell him that I still remembered every detail of that night perfectly. But, as I turned, he was so close that out bodies touched.

He reached out quickly, with his right hand, and pressed his index and middle fingers to my forehead. It felt as if a jolt of electricity shot through my body.

_I was walking down the street. Seventeen years old and not a care in the world. I was a young vampire who felt that nothing could touch me. I was stupid back then. Even though only a year had passed, it felt like forever ago._

_I was texting while walking down the street in an unfamiliar town. That was why I didn't hear them. _

_There is no excuse for being unprepared. That was what my mother always taught me. She would have been ashamed._

_There were three of them. _

_The first one covered my mouth and yanked my arm, forcing me into a dark alley. I dropped my phone and tried to scream. My attempts were futile._

_I thrashed against them. _

_I couldn't panic. I needed to think, think like a vampire. _

_I assessed my surroundings quickly. There were three males, all wearing masks. Their scent and the specific way that they moved told me that they weren't vampires. I saw the stakes in their hands._

_Hunters. _

_I needed to get out of there. _

_I threw my head back into the person that was holding me. He grunted and his grip loosened. I took the opportunity to elbow him in the crotch. He fully let me go as he doubled over in pain. I spun around and used my full force to kick him across the face. I heard bones snap before he fell to the ground._

_A searing pain forced me against the alley wall. I looked to my left. A wooden stake was protruding from my shoulder. I screamed; an ear shattering scream that reminded me of a dying animal._

_One of the last two hunters quickly covered my mouth._

"_Shut up you filthy animal!" He shouted in my face._

_I felt my fangs extend. I bit down as hard as I could into his hand._

_He shouted out in pain and released me. The last hunter came over and punched me in the face. I fell to the ground. All I could feel was pain._

_Why was this happening to me? Of course I would make it out alive, but this was not how I wanted my first summer away from my mother to go. _

_All I'd wanted was to text my friends back in America, grab dinner at an expensive restaurant, and head back to my fancy hotel. But no. I get ambushed by hunters._

_When I fell, my head bounced off of the ground. I think I blacked out for a moment because when I opened my eyes, I was being held up against the wall._

"_I'd say it's about time that you die now, vampire," one of the hunters said. I could hear his smile. He was getting too much pleasure from my torture._

_I tried once again to get away. My efforts were futile. My left arm was immobile, due to the stake impaled in it, and they had my right arm pinned down. My mind control was weak at best, and I didn't even have enough energy to try, due to the loss of blood from my shoulder._

_I was going to die. Any confidence I'd had before was gone._

_It wasn't the romantic death that I'd always thought of having. There was no family or friends around to wish me safe passage into the afterlife, or whatever was supposed to happen. I was going to burst into ashes in a dark alley that smelled like rotten garbage. _

_What would my mother do? Would she search for me? Would she send out the best trackers that money could buy, just to sniff out my ashes?_

_My thoughts were cut short. _

_A wooden stake was rapidly approaching my heart._

_Goodbye Mother._

_But death did not come._

_I felt lighter. The weight holding me against the wall had been removed. I realized that my eyes had been pinched shut, so I opened them._

_As I slid down the wall from exhaustion and blood loss, I saw the scene unfold._

_A vampire, much faster and stronger than myself, had materialized in the alley with us. He threw one of the hunters against the wall with extreme force. I heard multiple bones in his body break. As he fell to the ground, I could hear him take his last breath. His heart made one final pump before everything, just, stopped. _

_The last hunter would not give up. Even though I could smell his sweat and fear, and the sweet blood from the bite in his hand, he pulled a stake from a hidden place and threw it at the mystery vampire. Just centimeters from his chest, the man caught the stake in his hand. His eyes flashed red with anger. Faster than I thought my brain could process, he threw the stake back at the hunter. It hit him with so much force that he was thrown backward and fully impaled into the solid wall._

_I blacked out again. How long had it been since my last meal? Over 24 hours. I'd done so much traveling that eating hadn't crossed my mind too much. I was young, still weak. I didn't know how much my body could handle._

_I opened my eyes just as the vampire was leaning down next to me._

_His electric blue eyes struck me like lightning. Even at 10pm, they had a shine about them that could light up my night. I thought about how nice it would be to swim in them. His face was so perfect. Was he a God? I didn't know. What I did know, was that he had saved my life. _

"_Close your eyes," he said, breaking me away from my thoughts._

"_Why?" _

_He smiled. He had such a nice smile. His teeth were white, straight, and perfect. "It might hurt less if you close your eyes," he explained._

_He was going to pull the stake out. I wasn't sure if I could trust him, but I didn't know how I was going to get it out if I didn't._

_I closed my eyes._

_He was fast, but not fast enough._

_I screamed like I never knew was possible. But, I blacked out from pain. For once that night, I welcomed the darkness. I usually thrived in darkness, but fear had me broken that night._

_When I awoke, I almost had a panic attack. I was in a bed, but it wasn't my bed, and it wasn't my hotel room. Black satin sheets covered my body. I was still wearing the same clothes. How much time had passed? All vampires have an internal clock, so I tried to tap into mine. 3 hours before sunrise, so it was around 3am. _

_I still didn't know where I was. Had the hunters come back? Was I going to be attacked again? Just as I opened my mouth to scream, electric blue eyes were in my face. They were hypnotic. I choked on my scream and swallowed it back down._

"_Miss Brooklet, I am happy to see that you are awake," the boy said. His voice was satin smooth. His words flowed like a stream. I wanted to swim in them. But I felt if I did, I would drown. There was a sense of danger and power in this boy that I didn't understand._

"_Where – where am I?" I asked. I looked around. The bedroom was simple. It was blue with basic, yet classy décor. _

"_You are at my home," the boy started, "I couldn't just leave you out on the street."_

_I was skeptical of him._

_He backed away and walked over to a dresser. When he came back, he carried a bottle. "For you," he said and handed it to me. "Your strength was spent when that stake hit you."_

_I took the bottle and smelled its contents. The sweet smell of blood hit me hard. I realized how weak I actually was. My fangs lengthened so quickly that they scratched the inside of my mouth._

"_Drink it," he said gently. "I can sense how weak you are."_

_I didn't want to look like a barbaric turned vampire with no self-control, so I tried to start out slowly. But, as soon as the honey sweet taste of blood hit my tongue, I lost myself in the lust. I tipped the bottle back and drank the entire thing. My heart sped up and I could feel my senses heightening. It was all gone too fast. My fangs were still extra sharp as I lowered the bottle. My pupils dilated as I looked at the boy. I growled at him. The sound of his heart beating was so alluring. I wanted more. I needed more. He had more._

_He smiled sympathetically at me. I could hear his heart slow down to a dangerously slow rate, even for a vampire. How did he do that? _

_He walked, ever so slowly, to the other side of the room. His magnetic eyes never left mine. As he reached down, I dared to look away from his face and toward his hand._

_There was a spot in the wall that had a groove in it. He tapped it and the wall slid across like a sliding door. He pulled out another bottle and tossed it to me. I caught it and drained it before I completely lost control of myself._

_I turned away from his eyes. The way he looked at me was as if he were seeing into my soul. I felt exposed in front of him. Why? I didn't even know his name yet._

"_Thank you," I said to him, still avoiding his gaze._

_He walked over to the bed, where I was still tangled in the sheets. He sat in front of me and eyed me curiously._

"_You are welcome." His eyes still focused on my face. I squirmed under his intense stare._

"_Why did you help me tonight?" I asked him. Most vampires preferred to steer clear of Hunters in general. They were becoming more coordinated over the decades and branching out to create more, deadlier, organizations. He risked his life to help me, and I was in his debt._

_His eyebrows came together in a moment of confusion. "I saw a young woman in distress, and I didn't want to let her be killed by Hunters. Besides starvation, I think that would be the worst way to die," he explained._

"_How do you know my name?" I asked, remembering the first thing he'd said to me. Did he go through my wallet or something? It was stuck up for me to think since he saved me, but hell, my mother told me to never trust strangers; even if all Canadians were supposed to be nice. I think the Hunters broke that stereotype for me._

"_I know your mother. We sit on the North American counsel together. Ms. Brooklet is a lovely woman. She boasts about you at times. I hear she founded the school that you attend," he explained._

"_Yes, that's true. She believes in the integration of species, even if the humans don't know it's happening," I said._

"_You smell of her, an obvious kin. But, there is something else," he admitted. "It was as if I could feel you. When they grabbed you, I could feel your fear. I didn't know what it was, but I knew that I had to find you. I was drawn to you like a magnet."_

_His eyes flicked from my face to my left shoulder. He slowly reached toward me. All of his movements were slow and deliberate. I felt as if he were still trying not to set me off. He brushed the hair off of my shoulder and pulled my shirt down ever so slightly to examine me. He looked satisfied at what he saw._

_I dared to look away from his face to glance at my shoulder. It was almost fully healed. The blood that he gave me was working wonders. I felt stronger._

"_You felt connected to me?" I asked._

_He looked into my eyes again. My breath hitched. There was something in his eyes. The way that he looked at me made me feel, not like a vampire, not like someone whose mother controlled thousands of vampires, not like a stupid high school student, but a woman. He looked at me as if I were beautiful. If I'd felt exposed before, at that moment, I felt naked._

_He pushed my hair behind my ear. "I did … And I do now."_

_He leaned into me. _

"_I don't even know your name," I said, almost ruining the moment._

"_It's Nicholas," he said, just before his lips touched mine._

_It felt as if I were being electrocuted, but in a good way. His lips were soft, cold, perfect. Sparks crackled between us. I needed to get closer to him. I shifted and he pulled me closer to his chest. His tongue touched my bottom lip and I think I purred. Vampires are said to be mostly related to cats, and the sound that I made could only be described as cat-like. Nicholas seemed to understand my odd behaviour. He deepened our kiss. His hand dug into my hair and I held onto his arms. His muscles were lean and supportive._

_His grip tightened and he pulled my head back. He trailed his mouth across my jaw and down my neck. His fangs scraped my neck and my breath hitched. I closed my eyes and let my head fall back farther. I actually wanted him to bite me. I owed him my life, and it was the least I could do. His fangs did not sink into my neck though. He retracted them and kissed my neck lovingly. I sighed._

"_Bianca," he drawled._

"_Yes," I replied. Words could not properly describe what I was feeling. I wasn't sure whether I was floating on a cloud, or falling through the sky._

"Open your eyes."

I didn't want to open them, because I knew when I did, reality would come crashing down around me.

So I kept them closed. "Why did you do that?"

"Bianca-"

I opened my eyes. I'm sure they were tinted pink and full of tears. "Why would you do that to me?" I couldn't stop my voice from cracking.

Nicholas' beautiful features were instantly tainted with remorse and despair. "I am so sorry." He reached out to embrace me, but I backed away.

"No! You don't just get to come back into my life after all this time and expect me to jump back into your arms. Do you even know what happened the day you left me?"

He looked broken. His eyes were hooded as he shook his head no.

"Well, you're not the only one who knows how to play mind games."

I wished I could just connect with the centre of focus on his forehead like he had done to me, but that required a lot more skill. I leaned up and brushed my lips against his. Sharing memories was an intimate experience, thus it could be shared through intimate acts. I ignored the familiar touch of his lips and concentrated on the past that I had tried so hard to forget.

_I awoke in my hotel room cold and alone. I was confused. Nicholas and I had had the greatest night together. He took me dinner, followed by a play, and a quiet stroll through the park_. _Everything had been perfect._

_When we returned to my hotel room, I showed him how much he meant to me. I had given him everything._

"_Nicholas?" He didn't answer my call._

_I was just about to get up to search my suite when I saw a small box atop a paper on my night stand. I oopened the box to find the most beautiful ring I had ever seen. It was white gold with a heart shaped black diamond. I smiled as I slid the ring onto my left ring finger. It was a perfect fit._

_I finally picked up the note; It read:_

_Bianca, these past few weeks with you have been great, and I regret that I must depart before you wake. I promise that this not the final chapter in our story. I love you. ~Nicholas_

_I was even more confused. He gives me a beautiful ring with a cryptic note? I searched the room for my cell phone and found it under my dress from the previous night. When I tried to call Nicholas, a recording told me that his cell was disconnected._

_No._

_I ran through the room to find clothes. My breath was coming too fast. My heart was beating too fast. My thoughts were racing too fast. Everything around me seemed to be moving in slow motion._

_He did NOT leave me. Not after everything we had been through. We had talked about our future, our hopes, our dreams, our families, our intense love for each other that could only be compared to the sun. It was big, bold, beautiful, and hot. For many of our people, it was their beginning, but it was also their end._

_The taxi ride to his house had only taken a few minutes, but it felt like hours. I used the key hidden under a decorative rock that he had showed me to get in. _

_I stumbled through the house without breathing … until it hit me. He was gone. Everything was gone. The walls and floors were bare._

_I sat on the floor of his bedroom. I didn't cry. I didn't scream. I didn't move. Nothing felt right. I felt like the house. _

_Empty._

I pulled away from Nicholas when the memory ended. Ever since that day in Canada, nothing had truly felt right. Anger and despair were intensified while happiness and joy never came easily. I was broken.

"You don't have to stay broken," Nicholas said. During our time together, he had a habit of hearing my thoughts. Sometimes it was cute. Now, it just pissed me off.

"You told me you loved me. And then you left." A single tear slid down my cheek. I prayed that my stylist had used waterproof makeup.

"I did love you. I DO love you. Now and forever," he started to explain.

"You left." I felt the need to point out that detail again.

"I left for an assignment. The council called while you were asleep. I was to leave for the Middle East that day. I was not allowed to tell anyone. Even though I sit on the council, I can still be punished for disobeying them. I couldn't put you at risk. I felt that it would be safer for me to leave you and return when my mission was over. I knew that I would have to find you." There was a hint of desperation in his voice; he was begging me to understand. "I never wanted to leave you Bianca. I love you with everything that I am. It was truly painful to be away from you for so long. Please, look at me."

I had crossed my arms over my chest and looked away. I wanted to believe his words. I wanted to be able to love again. I looked into his eyes.

"I am begging you. Please forgive me."

I felt like if I lost him again, I would truly lose myself.

"Promise me that you will never leave me like that again," I said.

He didn't even hesitate. "I promise."

He picked me up around the waist and pressed his lips against mine. I actually wanted to feel that kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself even closer to him. I missed the feel of his lips on mine, his lean body, his slow and mesmerizing heartbeat. In that moment, I felt what it was like to truly be happy again.

**REVIEW**


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